Ten killed as bus falls into Maharashtra ravine

Raigad (Maharashtra): At least 10 passengers were killed when a private bus carrying nearly three dozen university staff plunged into a ravine in Raigad district of Maharashtra on Saturday morning, an official said.

Raigad Police Control official P.D. Patil said that around 35 staff of Konkan Agriculture University in Ratnagiri, including some women, were on way for a weekend picnic to popular tourist destinations of Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani when the bus fell 500 feet down into the ravine around 9 a.m. near Poladpur.

Rescue efforts were severely hampered by heavy rains lashing the Western Ghats, besides poor connectivity in the remote hills in the area.